This year’s admission numbers are in, and the prospective
class of fall 2003 is made up of better test takers, but fewer
underrepresented minorities.
UCLA released its admissions figures for fall 2003 on Wednesday,
showing that not only did the number of admitted students increase,
but so did the average GPA, test scores and number of honors
courses taken.
This year, UCLA received a record number of applications and
admitted 10,507 students, an admittance rate of 23.7 percent.
The number of students admitted increased by 119 from last
year.
UCLA Admissions Director Vu Tran said the university admitted
more students in light of an increased fall enrollment target. UCLA
is hoping to enroll about 140 more students for fall 2003 than it
did for fall 2002.
Tran said UCLA is able to accommodate more incoming freshmen
because more current students are graduating sooner than in
previous years.
The new class also fared better on standardized tests than past
classes.
“The quality of the freshmen class has increased
significantly,” Tran said.
This year’s admits, on average, performed better on the
SAT I and II, and in high school courses than last fall’s
freshmen.
But despite the increase in total number of admits, the number
of underrepresented minorities decreased for fall 2003.
The decrease was most pronounced in black applicants, where the
number admitted fell roughly 15 percent from last year.
Tran said there was no data available that would allow him to
conclusively say why this happened, and that if anyone tried to
explain this, it would just be speculation.
UCLA’s admittance of underrepresented minorities was
somewhat of an anomaly in the University of California. The number
of underrepresented minority students admitted to UC San Diego rose
32 percent, with black admits increasing by 8 percent. UC Santa
Barbara also saw a 9.5 percent increase in admitted
underrepresented minorities.
Berkeley admitted fewer students than UCLA, but was slightly
more selective. Berkeley admitted 23.5 percent of its
applicants.
The flood of increased applications across the UC system can be
linked to Tidal Wave II ““ the addition of 60,000 students to
the UC system between 2000 and 2010.
The influx of more students translated into more qualified
students ““ including those who were denied ““ for
2003.
“We had 19,000 applicants with a 4.0 G.P.A. or
above,” Tran said.
“We are breaking a lot of peoples’ hearts. We had to
turn away over three quarters of our applicants,” Tran
added.
The increase in qualified applicants was experienced not just at
UCLA, but at several other UC schools.
UCSB reported that the average SAT I score of its admitted
students rose 9 points from last year. That campus also rejected
10,140 students with a GPA of 4.0 or higher.
Tran attributed the increase in qualified UCLA applicants to
more students being aware of the prestige of the university.
“UCLA’s reputation as an excellent institution is
widespread,” he said.
“In spite of fee increases, it is still one of the most
affordable and reasonable institutions in the nation,” he
added.